PREAMBLE

The Indian Society of Organ Transplantation was founded at Ahmedabad by the joint efforts of few senior nephrologists including Dr. HL Trivedi, (Ahmedabad), Late Dr. Vidya N. Acharya (Bombay), Late Dr. JCM Sashtry (Vellore), Dr. S. Sunder (Bangalore), Dr. CM Thiagarajan (Chennai), Dr. Meshak Kirubakaran (Vellore) and Dr. A. Gopal Kishan (Hyderabad). The Society was registered at Ahmedabad under the Societies' Act of 1860 on 24th April 1990.

PART-I

MEMORANDUM OF THE SOCIETY

• The name of the Society is Indian Society of Organ Transplantation.
• Registered office of the Society: The Society had been registered vide registration no Guj./2015/Ahmedabad vide letter no.SPL/R.5/1G dated 24th April 1990.
• Till the establishment of the permanent headquarters of the Society, the office of the Society will move along with the Hon. Secretary of the Society.

AIMS & OBJECTIVES

• To promote, develop and exchange scientific knowledge and technical co-operation between clinicians, scientists and others involved in the field of transplantation.
• To promote the scientific research in various aspects of transplantation.
• To promote and establish highest ethical standards in the field of transplantation.
• To disseminate newer knowledge and information amongst the general public in relation to transplantation.
• To promote and encourage new transplant centers in the country
• To create public awareness regarding organ donation especially deceased donation and transplantation.
• To print, publish, distribute or sell books, pamphlets, pictures, periodicals, newspapers, magazines or any material in print or electronic form or any other material concerning the specialty of organ transplantation.
• To accept grants, donations and endowment or any other form of contribution from the Government, Semi-Government, Corporate Houses, public and individuals for achieving the objectives of society, provided there is no conflict of interest.
• To institute awards, fellowships, scholarships, grants, stipends, remuneration to the students, deserving members and the research scholars to enable them to undertake education, patient care and research in the field of transplantation.
• To facilitate or to provide financial assistance to the individuals/organizations involved in the promotion of activities of transplantation.
• To undertake projects for the Government, Semi-Government bodies, Universities or other organizations, aimed at fulfilling the objectives of the Society.
• To organize national, international, regional meeting, conferences, CME, exhibitions
• To co-operate, interact and exchange with other national and international societies, NGOs, agencies and individuals to promote the objectives of the society. To receive any movable and immovable assets with or without conditions to promote the objectives of the Society.
• To interact with the State and Central Government in formulating laws and policies in the field of transplantation.
• To make by laws, rules and regulations of the Society and to delete, change or add from time to time.

OFFICE OF THE SOCIETY

• The registered office of the Society shall shift to the work place of the Hon. Secretary of the Society at the time of assumption of his office.

PART-II

RULES AND BY LAWS

• Hereafter the following shall be rules subject to such modifications as may be made from time to time in accordance with the provisions made here under rules of the Indian Society of Organ Transplantation, hereinafter called the Society.

MEMBERSHIP

• There shall be 5 categories of members viz. Life Members, Associate Members, Honorary Members, Corresponding Members & Corporate Members.
• Life Members: Only qualified registered medical practitioners possessing Postgraduate degree like MS, MCh, MD, DM, DNB & PHD or equivalent foreign qualification recognized by Medical Council of India are eligible to be life member. The candidate should have worked for a minimum period of two years in any field related to transplantation. Postgraduate trainees should be accepted as trainee member and then promoted to life member after two year of training. Life member will have voting right, right to propose, second and contest for election to society post. Trainee members will not have any such rights.
• Associate Members : Paramedical persons involved in transplant work such as technicians, nurses, transplant coordinators and designated social workers can be enrolled as associate members. Associate members do not have voting right or the right to propose, second or contest any office of the Society.
• Honorary Members : Honorary membership may be awarded by governing council to person who have contributed significantly to science of organ transplantation and confirmed by General body. No fees shall be charged from the Honorary members. The Honorary members have no voting rights, right to propose, second or contest for society election.
• Corresponding Members : Persons involved in transplant work in any country outside India can be enrolled as a corresponding member provided they fulfill the qualifications for life membership.
• Corporate Member : Any corporate body or individual by donating a minimum of Rs. 15 lacs may be enrolled as corporate member. Corporate member will have no right to vote, propose and second and cannot contest for society election. Corporate member can register two persons for attending the conference of the society. After 10 years corporate membership can be renewed and again the amount to be decided at that time.
• Not withstanding any condition mentioned above, persons who are already admitted members of the society shall continue to remain members in the categories in which they had previously been admitted.
• Membership application shall be send to Hon. secretary of the society on the prescribed form as decided by the council. Candidature should be proposed and seconded by two life members of the Society. Application form should be accompanied by the documentary evidence regarding eligibility and the prescribed membership fees as decided by the governing council from time to time. The application will be screened by the secretary and accepted by the Council and should also be put in next Annual General Body. Once accepted by the council, applicant will be accepted to membership.

RIGHTS AND PRIVELEGES OF MEMBERS

• All Classes of members shall have a right to attend any Scientific meeting. Only life members will be eligible to attend General Body meeting of the Society. All will also get a print copy of journal of society and will have access to electronic form of journal of society. All members will be eligible for the privileges decided by the Society from time to time.

RESIGNATION & CESSATION OF MEMBERSHIP:

• Any member may resign from membership at any time by writing to the Honorary Secretary. Council shall be the final authority to accept the resignation from membership or to decide on cessation of membership. Membership fee will not be refundable.
• The council shall have the right to terminate the membership provided that:
  1. Material facts mentioned in the membership application were incorrect. No part of the membership fee will be refunded.
  2. Any member if found guilty of unprofessional behavior or of working against the interest of the Society. However, such members shall be offered full opportunity to present his/her case to the Council. Member if found guilty could be terminated. Termination has to be approved by Annual General Body meeting by two third majority of members present after a prior notification. General body adjourned for lack of quorum cannot take decision regarding termination of membership.
• A register and soft copy of list of all members containing their names and addresses shall be maintained and brought up to date as and when new members are admitted or old members cease to be members. Any change of address shall be recorded when this is communicated by any member. List of members of the Society with all the details shall be put in the restricted "member area" on the society website. Privacy issue policy of the society and its website should be separately displayed on the website as a link.

MEMBERSHIP FEE

• The council will decide membership fee from time to time.

BANK ACCOUNT:

• The bank account will be maintained in a scheduled bank at the place of office of the secretary. Hon. secretary and treasurer shall sign all cheque. In absence of one of them, president of the society will be second signatory. ATM facility cannot be availed.

GOVERNING COUNCIL OF THE SOCIETY

• Following office bearers of the society will form the council:
  1. President
  2. President Elect
  3. Immediate Past President
  4. Vice Presidents: 3 posts
     1. Surgeon
     2. Physician
     3. Basic Scientist
  5. Honorary Secretary
  6. Joint. Secretary
  7. Treasurer
  8. Council Members : 8 posts

Ex. Offico members

• Chairman Scientific Committee
• Chairman Credential Committee
• Chairman Credential Committee

Convener of Organs other than Kidney

• Liver
• Heart and Lung
• Pancreas

No member of the Society will be eligible for the election to the office of the president/president elect/ secretary, unless he/she has been an executive member of Governing Body in the past.

President

• The office of the president will be rotated between a Physician and a Surgeon alternately for one year.
• Once president, he/she cannot contest election for any post in society. However, he/she can be chairman of scientific or credential committee or editor of the journal.
• The president shall preside at the Annual General Meeting and at the meeting of the council.

Vice President

• Each Vice President will be elected for 2 years, one each from Surgeons, Physician and Basic Scientist.
• Once vice-president, he/she cannot contest election for any post in society except president. However, he/she can be chairman of scientific or credential committee or editor of the journal.

President Elect

• The president elect will be elected for one year. He/she will automatically become the President in the next year.
• The President elect shall perform all duties of the president in his/her absence or at his request. The president elect shall have other powers and functions as may be assigned by the Council.

Honorary Secretary

• The Honorary Secretary will be elected for two years. The Honorary Secretary shall hold office from the day following termination of Annual General Meeting at which he is elected to the termination of the second annual meeting. The Honorary secretary shall be eligible for reelection for one more term of two years, i.e. up to a maximum of two terms.
• The Honorary Secretary shall look after the day-to-day affairs of the society, under direction of the Council. He/she shall be responsible for summoning all meetings, preparing the agendas and keeping minutes of the proceedings. He shall be in charge of all documents and books of the society. He shall be responsible for maintaining a directory of members. He shall prepare Annual Report in consultation with the President to be presented to the council and the Annual General Body Meeting.
• The Honorary Secretary will coordinate with the chairman Scientific Committee and in close cooperation with organizing Secretary will plan Scientific programme for the annual meeting.
• The Honorary Secretary will hand over all the documents pertaining to the society to the next secretary within a period of four weeks after termination of his tenure.
• The Honorary Secretary will also hand over the society's website's password to the next secretary. However, the website format will not change but only the controlling Webmaster will be the new secretary. Any previous arrangements with the hosting company may continue as desirable.

Honorary Treasurer

• The Honorary Treasurer shall hold office for two years and shall be eligible for reelection for another term of two years i.e. up to a maximum to two terms.
• The Honorary Treasurer shall be responsible for receiving all subscriptions from the members, for paying all bills and for preparing an audited statement of accounts and balance sheet annually to the council and the Annual General Body. He shall keep true and accurate records and all financial transaction of the society. On request from the Honorary Secretary, he shall pay bills authorized by the secretary.
• At least once every year, the accounts of the Society shall be examined and audited and their correctness ascertained by one or more registered accountants appointed for the ensuring year by the members at the Annual General Meeting each year. The report of the auditor or auditors shall form part of the Annual Report submitted to the next following General Meeting. The Auditors of the Society shall hold office until the next Annual General Body Meeting. The retiring Auditor or Auditors shall be paid such remuneration or honorarium as the members may fix at the Annual General Meeting at which such auditors or auditors may be appointed

Joint Secretary

• The Joint Secretary will be elected for two years only and not eligible for reelection. In absence of secretary, joint secretary will officiate on behalf of secretary.

COUNCIL MEMBERS

• The tenure of the council Members is two years. Only life members can be elected as council member.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE COUNCIL

• The Council shall constitute the executive authority of the society in all matters scientific, business and financial.
• The Council shall have the powers to appoint subcommittee for any specific purpose on any aspect of the functioning of society. Such committees shall be responsible to the council. The reports of such committees shall be submitted to the council and incorporated in the reports of the council and submitted by the council at the Annual General Body Meeting.
• The Council shall have powers to invest money of the society with due regards to existing laws.
• The Council shall meet at the call of the President. Minimum 50% of council members shall constitute a quorum for council meeting.
• The Council shall have the powers to convene such other business meeting as deemed necessary, when it shall be called a special governing council meeting.
• The council shall have the powers to decide to convene other scientific meeting besides the annual one as deemed desirable.

ANNUAL GENERAL BODY MEETING OF SOCIETY

• The Annual General Body meeting will be held at the time of annual conference of the society. Quorum of the meeting will be 10% of the life members.
• President of the society will preside over annual GBM. In absence of president, president elect, past president and vice president in that order will preside the meeting. Secretary and treasurer will accompany president on the dais.
• The agenda of the Annual General Body meeting shall be but not limited to:
  1. Passing of minutes of previous annual general Body Meeting and action taken.
  2. Report of Auditor and Treasurer.
• If no quorum is formed at the first instance the meeting shall be adjourned to be reassembled after 30 minutes, when no quorum shall be required.
• Agenda raised by member of the society: any member desirous of moving an agenda at the Annual General Body meeting shall notify the same in writing to the Honorary secretary at least six weeks before the date of such meeting. No agenda will be accepted from the floor during Annual General Body meeting without permission of the chair.
• Secretary should ask for the bidding for the forthcoming conference for next two years. The council shall review bidding application and shortlisted bid shall be presented to the general body. The final decision of the venue of the Conference shall rest with the general body. In the absence of suitable bid, the General Body may request an individual member to undertake the responsibility. At the annual meeting of the General Body the venue and the organising secretaries of the conference for the next two years may be decided.
• The Organising Secretary shall submit an audited statement of the conference and remit to the Society 50% of the total saving collected from the conduct of the Annual Conference.

Annual Conference Activity

Annual conference of the society will be held once a year at place and time decided by the governing council in consultation with the organizing committee of the incoming conference.

• Logo of ISOT
  1. All publication and signages must use logo of the ISOT. Organising committee may use their own logo in addition to ISOT logo at its own discretion
• Dias arrangements of the Inauguration
  1. Following dignitaries, office bearers of ISOT and organizing committee will be sitting on the dais during inauguration.
     1. President of the Society
     2. Hon. Secretary of the Society
     3. Chairman of Organising Committee
     4. Organising Secretary of the conference
     5. Chief Guest
     6. Guest of honor (one or more)
• Handing over of newly elected office bearers of society
  1. The term of the office of the members of the Governing Council shall commence from the valedictory function of the Annual Conference where the outgoing President shall formally hand over the Presidency of the Society to the President
  2. Elect. The new President will then introduce and induct the newly elected members of the Governing Body, if any.
• Signing of certificates
  1. All the certificates of the annual conference will be signed by the following officers:
     1. President of society
     2. Secretary of the society
     3. Chairman Scientific Committee
     4. Chairman organizing committee
     5. Organizing secretary of the conference

ELECTION

• The president elect will be returning officer. In case of emergency, council will appoint another person as returning officer. Returning officer in collaboration with the secretary of the society will be responsible for conducting the election.
• In order to improve upon the existing system, a model is being proposed.
• Barring the immediate Past President and Ex-Officio members, the rest shall be elected in the following manner.
• Nominations for the vacancies on the Executive Council shall be called for by the Secretary. Once the Secretary has received nominations for various posts, he will screen nominations and if there are more than one candidate for one post the information in this regard will be posted to all the candidates by the secretary.
• Secretary will dispatch ballot papers to all the members by speed post/standard courier service. Completed ballot papers should be received in the office of the returning officer. Whenever last day falls on Sundays or holidays, the next working day will be the last date. If any member does not receive the ballot paper, he or she can contact the Secretary for a duplicate ballot paper which will be sent by Secretary by speed post/standard courier services.
• The nomination shall be proposed and seconded by two life members and should also be signed by the candidate.
• Candidate can withdraw his/her nomination as per announcement of the election process.
• The candidate should be a life member of the Society. If he/she ceases to be such a member at any time between the date of his nomination and the date fixed for election, his name shall be removed from the list of candidates.
• The Returning Officer and the Secretary in the presence of representatives of the candidates, if any will do the counting. The Secretary shall inform the respective candidates for the elections about the date and place of counting of votes. The Returning Officer will declare the results as well as inform the President about the results once the counting is over. The candidates will also be informed of the results.
• No candidate shall stand for election to more than one post at any one time.
• If the nominations are less than the seats on the Council, or if there are no nominations, the vacancies shall be filled up by election at the time of the Annual General Meeting.
• He will send ballot paper to all along with brief CV of the candidates.
• Three envelopes system will be signed by returning officer.
• Electorate√) his choice will mark on ballot (paper and put it in envelope A)
• Envelope A will be kept in Envelope B and sealed. The electorate will sign on this envelope B.
• Electorate will them keep them in envelope C which will be mailed to the returning officer.

SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE

• Society will have a scientific committee. Current president (Chair), President elect, Past president, Secretary, editor of the society's journal and other 4 members, one from each liver, kidney, heart and basic scientist nominated by governing council will form the members of scientific committee. Hon. Secretary will be the Convener of the Scientific Committee. The term of this committee will be for a period of two years and its report will required to be presented to the governing council for approval.

CREDENTIAL COMMITTEE

• Society will have a credential committee. Immediate Past president (Chair), three vice presidents, Secretary and 4 members one from each from Liver, kidney, heart and basic scientist nominated by the governing council will form the members of the credential committee. Hon. Secretary will be the Convener of the Credential Committee. The Committee will be responsible for various awards, orations and fellowships of the Society and recommend the names to the governing council for final approval. Credential committee will inform about various awards etc. to the governing council two month before annual conference. The term of this committee will be for a period of two years.

ZONES OF THE SOCIETY

• The society will encourage formation of four zonal chapters of the parent ISOT body as follows: -
  1. East: Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chattishgarh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Orissa, Sikkim, Tripua and West Bengal.
  2. West: Daman, Diu, Goa, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra.
  3. North: Chandigarh, Delhi Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttrakhand.
  4. South: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Pondichery, Tamilnadu, Telangana, Andaman Nicobar.

The zones may hold zonal meetings in consultation with the council. The Zones may register independently as a society with the consensus of the parent ISOT body. The Zonal members must be members of the parent ISOT to qualify to become Zonal members. The constitution of the Zonal chapters should be vetted be the Credential committee of the society before it is submitted for registration.

Zonal chapter should broadly follow the same core principles of the constitution, articles and bye- laws of the parent society.

FELLOWSHIP

• A member with ten years standing in profession who has distinguished himself/herself in the academic and research field or has performed exceptional service to the Society can apply for fellowship of the Society. Application should be sent to the Secretary Indian Society of Organ Transplantation. The Secretary will forward the application to the Credentials Committee for consideration. Credential committee after selection will forward the candidature for fellowship to the council. The total number of fellowships will not exceed 10% of total life membership. Fellowship is an honor and does not carry with it any right or privileges. Candidate has to be proposed and seconded by two fellows. Member can write as Fellow of ISOT (FISOT). Fellowship will include a high quality certificate with signature from President, President elect and Secretary.

TRANSPLANT GAMES

• Transplant games will be one of official activity of the society.
• Secretary should ask for the bidding for transplant games for next two years. Bidding applications shall be reviewed by the council and shortlisted bid shall be presented to the general body. The final decision of the venue of the transplant games shall rest with the general body. In the absence of suitable bid, the General Body may request an individual member to undertake the responsibility. At the annual meeting of the General Body the venue and the organising secretaries of the transplant games for the next two years may be decided. Transplant games should be rotated between different zones as far as possible.

JOURNAL OF ISOT

• The Society shall publish a journal, in which scientific papers pertaining to transplantation shall be published.
• The Editor's post will be filled by inviting nomination from the members of the Society. Nomination shall be placed before the Credential Committee. The Committee will recommend few names in order of merit to the council for final decision. The term of the editor will be of three years. He will be allowed a maximum of two terms with the approval of the Council.
• The Editor shall constitute an Editorial Board with the approval of the Governing council.
• The purpose of the Journal is to serve as a medium for publication of the Scientific work pertaining to transplantation and its
• allied specialties. If the Editor desires to publish any supplements he / she may do it if majority of members of Editorial Board agree for the same.
• All articles submitted to the journal shall be subjected to peer review by at least two referees. In case of any difference of opinion between the two references, the editor shall exercise his / her discretion regarding whether the article should be published or rejected.
• The past Editors would be designated as Emeritus Editors and would be Ex-Officio members of the Editorial Board.

TRANSPLANT REGISTRY

• The aim of the transplant registry is to encourage members of the society to collate information that can be utilized to improve standards and improve overall outcomes of transplantations of organs and tissues.
• The registry will be hosted on a secure server and will have a convener and a committee of nine members that will represent different organs that will supervise its purpose.
• Members of committee of the registry may be from different zones and from each organ or tissue. President and Secretary shall be ex-officio members of such committee. The governing council will nominate members.

ISOT WEBSITE

• The society will maintain an official website. The secretary of the society will be in-charge of the functioning of the website. A committee of five members maybe nominated by the governing council to help the development of the website. All costs for the upkeep of the website shall be paid by the society's funds.
• The website will display - ISOT logo, constitution, its rules and regulations, membership application form, information about all its awards, orations, conferences announcements, calendar of events, members list with their membership information and details, international, national, regional transplantation guidelines, links to other similar websites, newsletters and any other material to help the scientific activities of the society. Promotion of organ donation activities may be taken up along with any other activities to highlight the nature of the society.
• Social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook and other platforms maybe used to reach out to the wider audience.
• Website will have a member-restricted area for putting information, which will be accessible to members only.

INTERNATIONAL REPRESENTATIONS AND AFFILITIONS

• International representations of the society to other similar societies such as the Asian society and other International society shall be by the President or Secretary or a nominated governing council member.
• The attendee to the governing council shall submit minute of such attendance and such matters may be discussed in the general body if required.
• Affiliations and bulk membership to other international society may be discussed in governing council meetings and If found beneficial should be discussed in general body for taking such affiliations forward for the larger benefit of the society.
• All related announcement of the international meetings should be made available to all the members of the society through announcements in advance.

REPEAL OF RULES/ADDITION/DELETIONS

• Subject to the law for the time in force, the members in General Body Meeting shall have power to add to, vary, repeal any for the provisions contained in these rules, provided that such addition, variation or repeal is effected by means of a resolution for which due notices shall have been given and which shall be assented to by the vote of at least three fourths of the number of members present at the meeting.

THE INCOME AND PROPERTY

• The income and property of the Society when so ever derived shall be applied solely towards the promotion for the objects of the society as set forth in this memorandum of society.

PROPERTIES, CREDIT AND LIABILITIES

• True accounts shall be kept of the sums of money and other articles or things received in respect of which recipients and expenditures take place and of the properties, credits, and liabilities of the Society and subject to any reasonable restrictions, as to the time and manners of inspecting the same that may be imposed in accordance with the rules of the Society for the time being in force, the same shall be open to inspection of the members.

Monitoring Assets and Funds

• Any subcommittee or group out of ISOT can be made but any funds cannot be diverted into it for any purpose. All funds can only be given from the main society accounts.

DISSOLUTION OF SOCIETY

• The Society 3/4 of thecantotalbedissolvedmembershipif theof the society in a meeting for the convened purpose decide so. If on the dissolution of Society there shall be remain after the satisfaction of the debts and liabilities any property, whatsoever, the same shall not be paid or distributed among the members of the society. It shall be given to some other society or association having similar objectives.